When Tom Petty suffered a heart attack, it was his wife Dana York who made the frantic 911 call.

On Sunday evening she found her husband unconscious on the floor at their home in Malibu, California.

He was transferred to UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, where he was on life support until he died on Monday evening at the age of 66.

Dana, 53, had been married to rock legend for 16 years - and seen him through ups and downs.

But who is Dana York, the woman Petty credited with "saving" him from drug addiction?

Tom Petty and Dana York were married for 16 years (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Tom on stage on September 17 (Image: Getty Images North America)

Dana was born in Flint, Michigan and worked in education.

She was a principal at University High School in Ferndale, Michigan.

Later, she gave up her job to accompany Petty and his band on tour - she helped manage their schedule.

How did Tom Petty meet Dana York?

Petty's first marriage was to his childhood sweetheart Jane Beynyo.

They married on March 31, 1974 - just before he embarked on his successful music career.

But the couple struggled with drug abuse and finalised their divorce in September 1996.

Dana met Tom at one of his shows in Texas in 1991 - but they didn't marry until over 10 years later.

They met at one of his concerts (Image: REUTERS)

They reconnected in 1996 when her divorce with her first husband was finalised.

“Tom and Dana both felt as though they had known each other their entire lives and were fast falling in love,” the Daily Mail reported.

After dating for five years they got married on June 3, 2001.

They married in Las Vegas, following Petty's consecutive sold-out shows at the Hard Rock Hotel.

The "low-key ceremony" was attended by "a few close family and friends" according to Rolling Stone .

Then the "rather raucous party of twenty" headed to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse to celebrate.

They got married twice (Image: Getty Images)

Petty later told People magazine that the first ceremony was just to "get the legal stuff out of the way"

They held a second wedding ceremony - officiated by Little Richard - at their home in Malibu on June 21, 2001.

Petty credited Dana with saving him from drug addiction

Tom Petty struggled with addiction to both cocaine and heroin.

Initially, he didn’t want York to know about his drug use, so he tried to hide it from her.

"I'd stepped onto a fast-moving train, but we were having moments of tremendous happiness. Chaos and darkness and all this happiness at the same time", Dana told Warren Zanes - the author of Petty, The Biography.

Dana's own father had struggled with addiction most of his life so she understood the complications and was willing to stand by him.

Tom was eventually hospitalised and admitted to his therapist that he was a drug addict.

"They shoot this drug into you that literally drives the heroin out and your body goes into spasms. It forces the detox process," Petty said, according to the Daily Mail.

Two days later, he woke up.

She saved him from drug addiction (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Back home with Dana, she nursed him while a doctor came every day for months to give him medication that blocked the effects of an opiate.

Dana helped Petty through it and even put his relationships with his daughters back together after he was emotionally absent for years.

Did they have children?

Although they were married or 16 years, Petty and York never had children together.

Petty’s two daughters Adria and AnnaKim Violette are from his marriage with Benyo.

Dana has a son named Dylan from her previous marriage, who was often seen at events with his mum and stepdad.